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Program Details

Iowa Dog Trust ProgramsThe Iowa Dog Trust will offer programs designed to teach both young people & their adults all aspects of responsible dog ownership. When fully implemented, our programs will supply dog owners with all of the information they need for daily life with a dog.

1) We have begun the development of an interactive website that offers information about all aspects of dog ownership. It includes informative, easy to read articles ranging from how to choose the right dog for your family, to grieving the loss of a beloved companion. It also provides “basic” training information and provides answers to all of the most frequently ask questions about dogs and training.

2) With the support of our associate businesses we will also provide free and low cost instructional seminars and workshops in order to show young people the correct way to interact and train their dog. Instructional seminars will be presented in a larger format whereas the workshops will be done in a small group setting so that individual needs may be addressed.

3) With the help of Veterinarians and Vet Techs across the state we hope to offer dog owners with expert medical consultations to prevent and seek out any health issues that effect our state’s pet population. This will be done through our seminar program and also by setting up localized “pet health awareness day” programs.

4) One of the biggest issues today is choosing the correct dog for a family’s lifestyle. Picking the wrong dog can cause serious problems for both pet and owner and often results in the dog going to a shelter … or something even worse. To this end we will be working with shelter facilities and rescue groups to set up a dog adoption-counseling network. Once in place, we will be promoting it in the media and explaining how critical it is to pick up the correct dog.

5) To draw attention to the Iowa Dog Trust and to help promote our programs we will also put on some “fun” events throughout the year. The Iowa Dog Trust will organize several new statewide outings, as well as work with the established events in our state to make them even better and more widely attended.

6) Fund raising events are the key to providing funding for any group such as ours. But over and above funding our programs, our fund raising events can also help to sustain other programs in our state. We fully intend to offer donations to shelters and rescue groups as well as other donation supported programs. Programs such as Police K9 acquiescing and training, and a host of other great causes.

7) Everyone enjoys an outing with there pet. So we will be participating in the Iowa Dog Expo in Des Moines and hosting a few smaller exhibitions and dog fairs during the year. With the help of area groups these events will be presenting all forms of dog sport competitions, including (but not limited to) Agility and Obedience trials, Dock Dog and Frisbee Disc competitions and many other trained disciplines.

8) With community involvement we also hope to provide assistance across the state to those owners who, for one reason or another, are no longer able to afford the level of care or training that their dogs need. We believe that the loss of a job, displacement or illness should not affect the lives of our “best friends”.

9) Building a strong unbreakable bond is the key to establishing life-long mutual trust and respect between dog and owner. To that end, we will also provide supervised after school programs and programs during the summer months for middle school and high school aged students. These programs will not only provide the opportunity for young people to work in a small group setting and receive some one-on-one training help, there will also be small group knowledge building workshops available.

For those young people who might not have their own dog, but would still like to learn proper handling methods, we would like to call on area shelters and rescue groups to provide safe, adoptable dogs for them to work with and train. This is obviously a win-win situation as it will give our young people a chance to have some “hands-on” time while making these dogs more adoptable because they will be better trained and more used to positive human interaction.

10) “K9 Friends” will very likely become our legacy. “K9 Friends” will be a series of local outreach programs designed to get young people involved in all facets of community service and awareness. Activities will range from making public areas safe for both people and pets, to maintaining dog parks and recreation areas, to taking our dogs to visit the elderly, shut-ins and the disabled.

“K9 Friends” is a way for our youth to work toward a common goal, have fun together and to “pay it forward” in communities all across the state.

11) A Youth Scholarship Program will be established and awarded yearly. High school students from across the state will have the opportunity to nominate a fellow student to receive a $1000 scholarship to any Iowa college or university to study in the field of their choice. Winners will be determined by the board and judged on responsible dog ownership, training skills, and community service participation.

What We are Looking For
The Iowa Dog Trust organization is now in the process of building alliances in all areas of the “Dog Community”. We ask for your support. We realize that the level of support will vary from person to person and from business to business, and we only ask for a level of support that each person or group feels comfortable in giving.

As a supporting business, the people who use the programs we offer and the people that see our programs in action will know that you support us and will more than likely support your business. As an IDT supporter you will also be “paying it forward”.

Do you want to be involved? Do you know someone that could help us with this program? Please Contact Us Today!